The Russian Revolution: A New History

Historian Sean McMeekin traces the events that ended Romanov rule, ushered the Bolsheviks into power, and introduced communism to the world. Between 1917 and 1922, Russia underwent a complete and irreversible transformation. Taking advantage of the collapse of the Tsarist regime in the middle of World War I, the Bolsheviks staged a hostile takeover of the Russian Imperial Army, promoting mutinies and mass desertions of men in order to fulfill Lenin's program of turning the "imperialist war" into civil war.

Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire lasted 1,000 years, far longer than ancient Rome. Yet this formidable dominion never inspired the awe of its predecessor. Voltaire quipped that it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. Yet as Peter H. Wilson shows, the Holy Roman Empire tells a millennial story of Europe better than the histories of individual nation-states.

The Pursuit of Power: Europe: 1815-1914

Richard J. Evans's gripping narrative ranges across a century of social and national conflicts, from the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 to the unification of both Germany and Italy, from the Russo-Turkish wars to the Balkan upheavals that brought this era of relative peace and growing prosperity to an end. The first single-volume history of the century, this comprehensive and sweeping account gives the listener a magnificently human picture of Europe in the age when it dominated the rest of the globe.

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914

The Sleepwalkers is historian Christopher Clark's riveting account of the explosive beginnings of World War I. Drawing on new scholarship, Clark offers a fresh look at World War I, focusing not on the battles and atrocities of the war itself but on the complex events and relationships that led a group of well-meaning leaders into brutal conflict.

The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of civilization. After its founding in 509 BCE, the Romans refused to allow a single leader to seize control of the state and grab absolute power. The Roman commitment to cooperative government and peaceful transfers of power was unmatched in the history of the ancient world. But by the year 133 BCE, the republican system was unable to cope with the vast empire Rome now ruled.

Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947

In the aftermath of World War II, Prussia - a centuries-old state pivotal to Europe's development - ceased to exist. In their eagerness to erase all traces of the Third Reich from the earth, the Allies believed that Prussia, the very embodiment of German militarism, had to be abolished. But as Christopher Clark reveals in this pioneering history, Prussia's legacy is far more complex.

To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World

To Rule the Waves tells the extraordinary story of how the British Royal Navy allowed one nation to rise to a level of power unprecedented in history. From the navy's beginnings under Henry VIII to the age of computer warfare and special ops, historian Arthur Herman tells the spellbinding tale of great battles at sea, heroic sailors, violent conflict, and personal tragedy - of the way one mighty institution forged a nation, an empire, and a new world.

Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them

In 1518, in a small town in Alsace, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn't stop. She danced until she was carried away six days later, and soon 34 more villagers joined her. Then more. In a month more than 400 people had been stricken by the mysterious dancing plague. In late-19th-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome - a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure.

To Hell and Back: Europe 1914-1949

The European catastrophe, the long continuous period from 1914 to1949, was unprecedented in human history - an extraordinarily dramatic, often traumatic, and endlessly fascinating period of upheaval and transformation.

The World Remade: America in World War I

After years of bitter debate, the United States declared war on Imperial Germany on April 6, 1917, plunging the country into the savage European conflict that would redraw the map of the continent - and the globe. The World Remade is an engrossing chronicle of America's pivotal, still controversial intervention into World War I, encompassing the tumultuous politics and towering historical figures that defined the era and forged the future.

The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, 1962-1976

After the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward that claimed tens of millions of lives from 1958-1962, an aging Mao Zedong launched an ambitious scheme to shore up his reputation and eliminate those he viewed as a threat to his legacy. The stated goal of the Cultural Revolution was to purge the country of bourgeois, capitalistic elements he claimed were threatening genuine communist ideology.

The Guns of August

In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I. This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of Kings and Kaisers and Czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed...and how horrible it became.

African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the continent of Africa was a hotbed of international trade, colonialism, and political gamesmanship. So when World War I broke out, the European powers were forced to contend with each other not just in the bloody trenches - but in the treacherous jungle. And it was in that unforgiving land that General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck would make history.

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

In SPQR, world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even 2,000 years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty.

The Arms of Krupp: 1587-1968

The Arms of Krupp brings to life Europe's wealthiest, most powerful family, a 400-year German dynasty that developed the world's most technologically advanced weapons, from cannons to submarines to antiaircraft guns; provided arms to generations of German leaders, including the Kaiser and Hitler; operated private concentration camps during the Nazi era; survived conviction at Nuremberg; and wielded enormous influence on the course of world events.

The Habsburg Empire: A New History

Rejecting fragmented histories of nations in the making, this bold revision surveys the shared institutions that bridged difference and distance to bring stability and meaning to the far-flung empire. By supporting new schools, law courts, and railroads along with scientific and artistic advances, the Habsburg monarchs sought to anchor their authority in the cultures and economies of Central Europe. A rising standard of living throughout the empire deepened the legitimacy of Habsburg rule.

Uther says:"Ideal for students of empires, nationalism, minorities and ethnic groups"

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

The First World War is one of history’s greatest tragedies. In this remarkable and intimate account, author G. J. Meyer draws on exhaustive research to bring to life the story of how the Great War reduced Europe’s mightiest empires to rubble, killed 20 million people, and cracked the foundations of the world we live in today. World War I is unique in the number of questions about it that remain unsettled. After more than 90 years, scholars remain divided on these questions, and it seems likely that they always will.

The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944

The devastation of Pearl Harbor and the American victory at Midway were prelude to a greater challenge: rolling back the vast Japanese Pacific empire island by island. This masterful history encompasses the heart of the Pacific War - the period between mid-1942 and mid-1944 - when parallel Allied counteroffensives north and south of the equator washed over Japan's far-flung island empire like a "conquering tide", concluding with Japan's irreversible strategic defeat in the Marianas.

The Reformation: A History

At a time when men and women were prepared to kill - and be killed - for their faith, the Protestant Reformation tore the Western world apart. Acclaimed as the definitive account of these epochal events, Diarmaid MacCulloch's award-winning history brilliantly recreates the religious battles of priests, monarchs, scholars, and politicians - from the zealous Martin Luther and his 95 Theses to the polemical John Calvin to the radical Igantius Loyola, from the tortured Thomas Cranmer to the ambitious Philip II.

The Rise of Athens: The Story of the World's Greatest Civilization

Filled with tales of adventure and astounding reversals of fortune, The Rise of Athens celebrates the city-state that transformed the world - from the democratic revolution that marked its beginning through the city's political and cultural golden age to its decline into the ancient equivalent of a modern-day university town. Anthony Everitt constructs his history with unforgettable portraits of the talented, tricky, ambitious, and unscrupulous Athenians who fueled the city's rise.

All Things Made New: The Reformation and Its Legacy

The most profound characteristic of Western Europe in the Middle Ages was its cultural and religious unity, a unity secured by a common alignment with the Pope in Rome and a common language - Latin - for worship and scholarship. The Reformation shattered that unity, and the consequences are still with us today.

KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

In KL, Wachsmann fills this glaring gap in our understanding. He not only synthesizes a new generation of scholarly work, much of it untranslated and unknown outside of Germany, but also presents startling revelations, based on many years of archival research, about the functioning and scope of the camp system.

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

North America was settled by people with distinct religious, political, and ethnographic characteristics, creating regional cultures that have been at odds with one another ever since. Subsequent immigrants didn't confront or assimilate into an "American" or "Canadian" culture, but rather into one of the 11 distinct regional ones that spread over the continent each staking out mutually exclusive territory. In American Nations, Colin Woodard leads us on a journey through the history of our fractured continent....

Publisher's Summary

Today, 1913 is inevitably viewed through the lens of 1914: as the last year before a war that would shatter the global economic order and tear Europe apart, undermining its global pre-eminence. Our perspectives narrowed by hindsight, the world of that year is reduced to its most frivolous features last summers in grand aristocratic residences or its most destructive ones: the unresolved rivalries of the great European powers, the fear of revolution, violence in the Balkans.

In this illuminating history, Charles Emmerson liberates the world of 1913 from this prelude to war” narrative, and explores it as it was, in all its richness and complexity. Traveling from Europe’s capitals, then at the height of their global reach, to the emerging metropolises of Canada and the United States, the imperial cities of Asia and Africa, and the boomtowns of Australia and South America, he provides a panoramic view of a world crackling with possibilities, its future still undecided, its outlook still open.

The world in 1913 was more modern than we remember, more similar to our own times than we expect, more globalized than ever before. The Gold Standard underpinned global flows of goods and money, while mass migration reshaped the world’s human geography. Steamships and sub-sea cables encircled the earth, along with new technologies and new ideas. Ford’s first assembly line cranked to life in 1913 in Detroit. The Woolworth Building went up in New York. While Mexico was in the midst of bloody revolution, Winnipeg and Buenos Aires boomed. An era of petro-geopolitics opened in Iran. China appeared to be awaking from its imperial slumber. Paris celebrated itself as the city of light, Berlin as the city of electricity.

Full of fascinating characters, stories, and insights, 1913: In Search of the World before the Great War brings a lost world vividly back to life, with provocative implications for how we understand our past and how we think about our future.

This is a pretty good book that does what it says it will do: Sets out portraits of the worlds countries at the time as they represented themselves and as they actually behaved. But the audio presentation is ruined by a reader and/or producer who has no idea how to pronounce the terms used or the names of people or places. For example, the French centime is pronounced SAHN-teem, not SENT-time; a "row", as in tussle, sounds like, "Ow! You hit me", not Row, like your boat gently down the stream; Camille Saint-Saens is san-SOHNS, not sant sigh-ENS. Simple words were mispronounced, like saying "pro-TESTS in the streets", instead of, "PRO-tests in the streets." Granted, the Qing Dynasty is not commonly known to be pronounced CHING Dynasty, but in the age of the internet wouldn't it behoove producers of audiobooks to check these things out? It's certainly not KWING Dynasty, as pronounced in this book; there's no "u". My enjoyment of this book was ruined by cringing every few minutes at the continued, flagrant disregard for the listener's intelligence as regards simple knowledge of the proper pronunciations. But what can one expect when the makers of the product are ignorant themselves?

How could the performance have been better?

How hard can it be to simply check these things before recording? Otherwise, the reader did a serviceable job, his voice reminding me of the excellent Scott Brick.

Did 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War inspire you to do anything?

This is the first time I have ever been inspired to write a review for an audiobook. Too bad it's because of the poor quality of its production.

Any additional comments?

I know the current trend is to eliminate the engineer and producer/director, and have the voice actor record and edit themselves without oversight, but if this is a product of this kind of system perhaps it should be reconsidered, and preferably abandoned. Quality work needs the input of professionals of specific disciplines. Let the engineers record, the directors direct, the producers produce, and the actors act. If this sort of shoddy product is the result of cheap budgets why do them in the first place?

The narration was very distracting...Foreign terms and names were mangled badly. Unfortunately, the scope of the book covered several nations and different tongues. It would be a good idea to practice or get some coaching prior to recording!

Stillwell's voice is actually pleasantly neutral. Neutrality is not a bad quality: while an unsuitable or irritating voice can ruin an audiobook, only the rarest readings are memorably outstanding; simply not noticing the voice is the mark of a workmanlike reading, competent and unintrusive. Stillwell's performance is solid on this matter.

However - and this is a very big qualification - as other reviewers have pointed out, Stillwell's pronunciation of even the commonest foreign words or names - or sometimes even of fairly common English words like "quay" - is abysmal. The pronunciation is occasionally confusing ("Does he mean ...?"), but more often just jarring; I know what he means, but constantly find myself audibly correcting him, over and over. Because the text deliberately jumps from locale to locale, the listener can't even overcome the mispronunciations by becoming used to them, as every chapter brings the text to a new place where Stillwell will find a whole new crop of words to mangle.

This completely undermines the admirable neutrality of his voice, by constantly intruding on the listener, dragging him out of the story and into a pedantic confrontation with the narrator. What's worse is how easily this could have been corrected: one particular howler was Stillwell's failed attempt to pronounce the surname of the French writer André Gide, which Stillwell pronounces as if it were "guide." Gide, a Nobel Prize winner, is hardly so obscure that the correct pronunciation would have been difficult for Stillwell to find; a Google search gives it immediately.

I would recommend only the print version. Kevin Stillwell's mispronunciations make me wince. How can he have been hired to read 67 books?!!!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War?

I keep listening to understand what London, Shanghai, Cairo, and other world capitals really FELT like before World War 1. The research is wide, including contemporary newspapers, diaries, guidebooks, music, and political tracts.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kevin Stillwell?

Someone fluent in English. And acquainted with German, Chinese, and other languages' pronunciations.

Do you think 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

The idea of a world survey of 1913 was great, but there is no strong theoretical thread, nor narrative thread in this work. It seems like a series of postcards, but the postcards aren't those funny or interesting ones we liked to get (back when people actually sent postcards), but are instead those common cards that show the 'important' buildings, or the local celebrities.

Stillwell has a great voice, but his mispronunciations become more and more distracting.

I would have liked skimming through this book in a paper or electronic version. It doesn't have enough continuity to sustain a lengthy listen.

I'm heartened to see that pretty much every reviewer has pointed out how badly the reader mangles the least obscure of words, e.g. 'quay', which he renders as 'kway' instead of 'key'. How does somebody reach adulthood without a rudimentary understanding of how to pronounce pretty common words? And how does that person manage to carve out a career as an audiobook narrator?

While I'm certain Mr. Stillwell is a perfectly acceptable reader for many books--specifically, ones requiring an American accent--he was a poor choice as narrator of this volume. "1913" describes the mood, highlights, lowlights, popular longings, political and intellectual atmosphere, and foreign and defense policy outlooks of Big Power and Lesser Power capital cities immediately before World War I. It is reasonably interesting, though a bit shallow as intellectual history.

The fact that the book surveys so many national capitals--Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Rome, St. Petersburg, among others--means that it would be a real advantage if the reader knew how to pronounce words and names in the languages of those cities. It is unreasonable to expect perfect pronunciation, but a game attempt based on some coaching from a trained linguist certainly would help. Instead, Mr. Stillwell thought plowing ahead with an unaided American accent would work just fine. It doesn't. People with a smattering of French or German will cringe every time the narrator attempts to render straightforward words in those languages. The author of the book is trying to strike a sophisticated pose with his wide learning and cultured asides. The effect is completely ruined when the narrator mispronounces the name of a well-known writer, politician, intellectual, or the best-known street in a world-famous city.

His inability to pronounce common names and phrases correctly, again and again, ultimately insulting at least five languages before I gave up in despair, combined with his utterly bland and colorless delivery.

What did you love best about 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War?

The fact that it uses a lot of material from the period and that there is little foreboding makes you feel engaged and almost hopeful for the world that's coming in 1913. When it was over, I could not escape that melancholic sense of what could have been.

What did you like best about this story?

Loved how the book is organized by gradually giving you the perspective of the world that year through the eyes of the many different cities, cultures and their people.

What does Kevin Stillwell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narration is excellent and conveys the emotions in the historical texts and citations very well.

What did you like best about 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War? What did you like least?

An excellent tour d'horizon before WW1

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/a

Would you be willing to try another one of Kevin Stillwell’s performances?

Certainly not. His lack of familiarity with basic foreign names and foreign terms commonly used in English is embarrassing and makes the reading uncomfortable at times.

Any additional comments?

It's a high quality book. It would have much better with a different reader

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Mary

8/22/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Fresh, broader perspective on the era before WW1"

Would you consider the audio edition of 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War to be better than the print version?

Don't know, but I will definitley buy the book.

What did you like best about this story?

The new insights into the pre-Great War world, drawn from around the world, not just the major powers. For instance, the chapters on Mexico and Argentina filled huge gaps in my knowledge and would probably only be otherwise available in the kind of specialist tomes that I never pick-up. It's brilliantly researched, providing glimpses of the real lives behind the history and really well written with clarity and purpose, presenting the complexities of geo-politics in a highly digestible style.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kevin Stillwell’s performances?

I would have given Kevin 5 stars were it not for his incessant mangling of foreign names, which often detracted from the serious tone or even comprehension of the piece. However, I consider the blame to lie not with the performer but with the editor who failed to select someone with some small familiarity with the French, German, Italian languages particularly. (I think Kevin was more familiar with Spanish). I would secondly criticise the ediorial process for not editing out the worst howlers (including in English e.g. 'quayside' pronounced 'kwayside'). After all, these books cost enough and I think both the reader and the author have the right to expect them to be performed to the standard of the printed work.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A truly global perspective on a global conflict.

Any additional comments?

Yes. I'd like to know what Charles Emerson, the author, has to say about this performance.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Frank

9/21/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great work"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes.

What did you like best about this story?

Its attention to detail and the range of places it covered. Not just the standard Paris-London-Berlin, but also Melbourne, Winnipeg, Tehran, Buenos Aires, Detroit and so forth. The author had interesting things to say about all of them with almost no repetition of information.

Which character – as performed by Kevin Stillwell – was your favourite?

not applicable for this book, but I particularly liked the Winnipeg, Buenos Aires and Tehran chapters.

Any additional comments?

I'm not a pronunciation snob, but the narrator's mispronunciation of foreign words, especially the French ones could be genuinely distracting... as in I-have-no-idea-what-word-that-guy-just-said distracting. But, small point, he did a very good job overall.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Geoff_Cockayne

Walsall, UK

8/12/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Shockingly bad pronunciation"

Would you try another book written by Charles Emerson or narrated by Kevin Stillwell?

The author probably but the narrator never.

What did you like best about this story?

The focus on a single year without seeing it as a necessary prelude to WWI.

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator is utterly incapable of pronouncing any foreign word, to the extent of making the whole performance a joke. There is also rather too much upward intonation in normal sentences, ok in soap operas but not historical narrative.

Any additional comments?

The bad pronunciation went from infuriation to humour. Is the narrator aware, I wonder, that there are such languages as French and German?

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Henry Bradley

8/7/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"FASCINATING BUT BADLY FLAWED BY POOR NARRATION"

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The idea of describing the world on the eve of the greatest catastrophe of the First World War is well thought out with fascinating vignettes of a wide range of the worlds' cities.

What was one of the most memorable moments of 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War?

For me the most memorable moment was the description of the relationship between China and the other Powers in the years after the Boxer Rebellion.

What didn’t you like about Kevin Stillwell’s performance?

Stillwell's performance ruined the experience for me. His monotonous voice coupled with his complete inability to pronounce important words in the text (as an example Quay pronounced Kay instead of Key). In particular his mutilation of most German and French names drove me to distraction. Only fascination with the topic kept me going to the end.

Did 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War inspire you to do anything?